Spanish students at North East Wales Institute

Francesc Farran was keen to complete the final year of his automotive electronics technology degree in the UK, and had the choice of three places with links to his faculty. The 25-year-old chose Wrexham's North East Wales Institute (Newi) in Wales on the advice of past students, and has no regrets. "It's been a great experience," he says. "The facilities at Newi are much better than at my university in Spain. The labs we use for automotive engineering are really good - the equipment's modern and there's more of it. We get more lab time than I did in Barcelona."

He is echoed by Pablo Menendez Mainer, 26, from Pamplona, who spent this year studying industrial engineering at Newi, which is hoping soon to be awarded university status. "Study in Spain is much more theoretical, so it's been great to do a lot of practical here," he says. "I've had a few emails from students in Spain asking what it's like, and I've told them they should come."

Farran and Menendez are typical of the many international students now based at Newi's diminutive campus. Of just 7,300 people studying there in 2006-07, 1,300 were from overseas - with by far the largest number from France and Spain. Our data shows Newi has more Spanish students - 600 - than any other UK university - almost a tenth of the 6,350 Spanish students in the UK.

It is also top for French students, with 520 studying here out of 13,070 in the UK. Again, more French students study at Newi than at any other UK university.

Together the two nationalities make up more than 15% of Newi's students, with most recruited from partner institutes to do just a year in Wrexham.

Olivier Durieux, 33, from Aix-en-Provence, loved the place so much he returned as a lecturer, nine years after first arriving as an undergraduate.

Durieux came to Wrexham in 1998 to study mechanical and structural engineering. He stayed on to do an MPhil before returning to France in 2002 to take a well-paid job in industry. When his company relocated last year, he resigned and returned to Wrexham. "In France lectures and tutorials are very formal, and students don't get to discuss their subject. At Newi we talk about everything, which is vitally important for learning," he says.

"I left beautiful Aix, where it's almost always sunny and I lived by the sea, to come to Wrexham. I could have applied for another job in France, but life is better here. This place is a paradise for foreign students. It's a great location, the cost of living is low and the students are cared for really well."

Hastings McKenzie, head of Newi's school of science and technology, believes several factors keep overseas students coming back. Wrexham is close to major cultural centres like Liverpool and Manchester, and there are cheap air links to Europe nearby. Halls accommodation is guaranteed for all international students. "France and Spain are well established for us, but we're starting to get more students from other places now, particularly Germany," he says.